


Because I Love You, You Dumbass

by Dracien



Series: One Shot Gifts [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU sasuke, Hokage Naruto, M/M, No Canon Marriage, Suicidal Thoughts, after anime, nothing too bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 02:57:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14346555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dracien/pseuds/Dracien
Summary: With tensions sill high around the villages, Sasuke and Naruto are forced to keep their relationship strictly professional despite what they may or may not want personally.But now, with Sasuke almost two weeks past due for his mission, Naruto can only sit and worry and decide if this is truly how he wants things to be.





	Because I Love You, You Dumbass

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Konori](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Konori/gifts).



> so this is a gift to my supporter :Konori
> 
> The original prompt is as follows:  
> Pairing: Uzumaki Naruto/Uchiha Sasuke  
> Prompt: (preface: Naruto is Hokage, Sasuke is one of the Anbu, and neither of them married Hinata or Sakura. They have feelings for each other, but with Sasuke's actions before and during the war, the village doesn't trust him, and as punishment and to keep him in line, he's forced to join the Anbu. Sasuke doesn't want the villagers that still hate Naruto stirring up trouble, so he keeps his feelings to himself) Sasuke is two weeks past due from his mission, When he returns, he's injured and as Naruto later learns, had been captured and tortured before he could escape.
> 
> I hope this meets your expectations.

The room is quiet except for the scratching of pen on paper as Uzumaki Naruto, the Hokage of almost two years now, methodically completes the mountain of paperwork stacked on his desk. If he had known how much boring paperwork was involved with being Hokage, he never would have wanted the stupid hat… Strike that, Naruto still would have wanted to become Hokage. The precious people he has gathered during that journey, the good and the bad times both, and the honest joy and recognition in the eyes of his people are somethings that make everything worth it. That doesn’t mean Naruto likes paperwork any more than being stabbed with a kunai repeatedly in the gut. That just means he has enough good in his life to outweigh the bad.

Speaking of good and bad. Bright blue eyes wander over toward his small desk calendar. A date has been circled, but several Xs continued their way passed as the days went on. Ten days. It's been ten days since Sasuke, or Cat as Naruto should refer to him while he is on ANBU duty, was supposed to return from the mission Naruto sent him on. It wasn’t a difficult one, hardly worth the attention of an ANBU agent, but Sasuke had been getting a little stir crazy staying in the village for so long. 

It wasn’t a secret that most of the village still holds a grudge against the last Uchiha for his part in, well, lots of stuff. The council even went so far as to forcefully instate Sasuke as an ANBU member to keep him in line. And Sasuke, with his sense of guilt, accepted it all in an effort to prevent those still unsure of Naruto from stirring up any trouble. 

None of that matters right now since Naruto’s most trusted friend is late. Unfortunately, protocol dictates that action cannot be taken until two weeks after a missed update on ANBU missions. Not for the first time, Naruto curses the stupid protocols and laws, that he may or may not have created himself, that prevent him from running out and helping a friend that could potentially be in danger. 

Naruto lets his head fall to his desk with a loud thud and keeps it there. He quickly lifted his head, grabbed a pen and some papers and posed as if he has been working diligently the entire time seconds before a messenger gently knocks on his door. The Hokage grants him entrance. The medic-nin enters carrying a scroll with a sightly worried expression. 

Blue eyes narrow in on the subtle tick and a hundred possibilities run through the Hokage’s mind of what could cause such an expression. “The report Hokage-sama.” He holds out the scroll, “From the ANBU Cat’s recent mission.” Naruto very carefully tilts his head in mild confusion rather than the petrifying panic that he feels at the statement.

“Why are you turning this in instead of Cat himself? All ANBU reports are to be turned in verbally as to reduce the evidence of their existence.” The statement causes the young medic-nin to tense ever so slightly. A motions that doesn’t go unnoticed by the Hokage.

“Well, you see,” he begins, “the report was already written…and we are not sure he’s going to make it.” The statement trails off as the temperature in the room seems to drop. Naruto’s eyes are shaded by his fringe, “I see. If that is all, you may go.” His voice is sharp and curt as he takes the scroll out of the other’s hands. The medic-nin bows his respect and quickly leaves the room. 

Naruto is out the window and on his way toward the hospital at top speed before the door even closes. 

In mere seconds Naruto barges into the hospital still clad in his official Hokage robes. He doesn’t hesitate and goes straight to the shinobi wing. Several of the medics and doctors try to stop him, but one look at his face causes them all to hesitate. Naruto almost makes it all the way to where he can sense the faint traces of his best friend’s chakra. He was stopped by the only force in Konoha that would make even the Hokage hesitate: Haruno Sakura.

She stands tall in the middle of the hallway a few doors away from Sasuke’s room, with an impassive look on her face. “No.” Is all she says, short, sharp, and making no rooms for argument. Naruto, though would not have gotten this far if he ever took ‘no’ for an answer. “It’s Sasuke.”

“I know, but the answer is still ‘no’. He’s been in surgery for almost 8 hours. When he got here he had more bones broken than not and we had to give him multiple blood transfusions before we could even start. He was moving on pig-headed stubbornness alone. I’m not even sure he was conscious when he arrived three days ago.” Her voice is filled with all the authoritative strength of someone that deals with injured ninja regularly.

Uzumaki Naruto doesn’t care, especially where his friends are involved. He pulls on his Hokage voice, “Why wasn’t I informed upon his arrival?”

“Oh, sorry. We were too busy keeping him alive.” Sakura’s retort comes back just as sharp.

“It’s my duty to protect the people under my rule, and to know the condition of my shinobi. So I ask again, Dr.Haruno, why was I not informed of Cat’s condition upon his arrival?” Naruto knows it is borderline cheating using such formal speech with his friend, and it hurt just a little to address those two by such an impersonal title, but right now all he can think is that he wants to see Sasuke.

That created a crack in the pinkette’s resolve. Her lip twitches ever so slightly and her face slowly melts into one filled with concern and mild fear. Now the alarm bells really begin to ring in the Hokage’ head. “He should have woken up days ago.” The soft voice of the head doctor sounds loud and damning in the silence of the hallway. “We’ve done all we can, but the rest is up to him. We can’t wake him up if he doesn’t want to.”

They stand in silence as her words begin to sink in. Impossible. There is no way that can be true. “Are you telling me,” Naruto speaks lowly, fringe shadowing his eyes, “that Sasuke doesn't want to wake up?” Sakura looks at her friend, soft green eyes taking in his slightly slumped shoulders and clenched hands. “I mean,” the pinkette tries to reason, “it’s no secret that most of the civilians and a lot of the shinobi don’t exactly look at him in a positive light.”

“So that makes it okay to just give up?!” was Naruto’s retort. Sakura had no response to that. “Can I-” He hesitates just the slightest bit, “can I at least see him?” That gives the head doctor pause. In all her years of knowing the blonde in front of her never has she seen him hesitate. He always strides straight forward into everything. It was that small show of weakness that finally breaks through her medical professionalism. Sakura gives a small nod of her head.

Naruto didn’t need to see her permission to begin walking toward the hospital room that holds his best friend. He takes a moment to compose himself before opening the door. Even with the extra mental fortitude Naruto was not prepared for the sight before him. He has seen people injured beyond recovery. He has seen wounds gaping and stitched and severed limbs. 

This, however, seems so much worse. Not the physical wounds, no. Those have been patched up nicely. It’s the look on his face and the paler than ash skin. His eyes, even closed, have the sunken emptiness of someone that is too tired to try anymore. The face is slack in sleep, but Naruto can see the slight sag of lips and cheeks that go with the crumbling of will. 

It looks so wrong on Sasuke’s face. The face of the person that Naruto has spent so many years admiring and chasing. Finally, he enters the room and brings a chair to settle right next to Sasuke’s bed. Blue eyes begin to trace every line and curve of the ravenette’s face. One calloused and tan hand reaches up and, in an act Naruto would never do to a conscious Sasuke, gently grabs a pale hand with slender fingers and gently holds on. 

Naruto lets his Hokage persona drop and his emotions show. No masks, no hiding of anything, not in front Sasuke. The only one to make his way deeper into his heart than anyone else. Naruto begins to talk. Most of it is nonsense about the coming summer festivals and D-rank missions he creates for the new gen-nin. He just lets his mouth run on and on, unable to take the silence in the hospital room. He keeps his hand wrapped around Sasuke’s gently. Not forcefully trying to keep him there, but wanting to coax his wayward friend back to him like so long ago.

X X X X X

It’s all darkness, darkness and pain. Sasuke feels like an idiot and is in so much pain. It’s not worth it to keep going on. To continue his empty life filled only with the scornful glares of the villagers and not so subtle disdain from his fellow ninja. After all he has done, he has no idea why Naruto allowed him to live and stay in Konoha as a shinobi. 

Well, that’s not entirely true, he does know. It’s Naruto. That has been reason enough for more outrageous things. Sasuke has only been continuing on because of Naruto. The blonde still believes in him even after all the shit Sasuke has pulled. Naruto not only forgave him but continued to believe in some form of goodness inside Sasuke. 

That was the only reason Sasuke got captured. A careless mistake that in hindsight was a really pathetically stupid trap. It is actually quite insulting that he fell for it. Sasuke knew he was a little late in his update of the mission. Not actually too big of a deal. Seeing as his mission was medium length, a few days was not a significant time. However, he also knew that Naruto, the kind-hearted idiot that he is, will drop everything if he even thought a friend was in trouble. Somehow, Sasuke was included in that ever increasing circle.

As he was finishing off the last of some start up slavers group (hardly a mission worth an ANBU) he saw an image that made him pause. Naruto, because of course it’s Naruto, rushing toward him yelling questions about his health and safety. Naruto charging in headfirst into the unknown, directly into Sasuke’s next attack. Naruto with blood dripping down his chin and blue eyes wide in shock as Sasuke’s blade drives through him. 

The shock of striking down his best friend, the one bright constant in his life of darkness, made him pause for barely a fraction of a second. That fraction of a second was all they needed to spring their trap. In the seconds it took the trap to bind his limbs in awkward angles Sasuke realized that Naruto was much to strong to fall to one of his strike, but it was too late. 

The remaining bandits proceeded to continuously beat and stab him for the next four hours. Revenge for their fallen fellows, anger at their released captives, or just primitive aggression, Sasuke doesn’t bother to care. In order to release himself from the admittedly shoddy bindings, he had to sacrifice breaking a limb. That added to the other injuries he acquired during the impromptu torture session turned his two day run back to Konoha into more of a two week hobble. 

Sasuke may have forgotten to send a message that he was on his way back somewhere through the haze of pain from his broken bones and bleeding cuts. He completed the basic self-first aid, so there was no fear of dying… probably. Besides, he was just one Anbu, just one shinobi, and not a very well liked one anyways. It;s not like anyone would miss him… Naruto might… but Naruto is like that for everyone… he is not special…

In the middle of his dark thoughts, of just drifting in the darkness, there is a warmth… then a gravely voice that is somehow soothing. He can’t tell whose voice it is, or what exactly they are saying, but the sound grounds him somewhat… he debates allowing the voice to bring him out of the darkness or just slip deeper into oblivion… maybe forever… but then the warmth gets stronger and pulls him out. 

Sasuke opens his eyes and gently sighs, “Naruto.” At the same time Naruto, still rambling about everything and nothing, blurts out the words he had been trying to say the entire time “Because I love you, you dumbass.” Teary blue eyes open and lock with inky black orbs. They look at each other for a moment in shock wondering if they really did hear what they think they heard.

Naruto’s face bursts into a bright red and even Sasuke blushes a bit as they both realize they they didn’t hear wrong. Naruto did just blurt out a love confession and the first word Sasuke spoke after waking up was in fact Naruto’s name. Naruto pulls his face back since he some how managed to get really close during his ramblings. He goes to wipe his tears but realizes he is still holding Sasuke’s hand, and Sasuke, to his own shock, realizes that he was griping back.

They quickly let go of each other and sit in an awkward silence. Naruto, in true Naruto fashion, blurts out anything he can think of to break the silence. “You! Why didn’t you send in your report. You really made my paperwork load that much more because now I need to fill out the late forms.” His face is still red, but now his lower lips juts out in a small pout.

Sasuke does not find that endearing, “Well, my bad. I was sort of injured.” He retorts sarcastically and looks down to his bandaged body. Naruto looks like he wants to argue, “Well that!! … is completely valid.” His voice trails off with mild defeat and they once again sit in silence. 

Sasuke isn’t sure what makes him speak up, but he does and with all the arrogant poise that he is known for. “So, what was with that confession to an unconscious person. You know important things are to be spoken to a person when they are awake.” Naruto, of course splutters at this for a moment and then comes back with all the obnoxious flair he is known for.

“W-W-Well I was just talking about stuff and it s-s-sorta just came out. And besides, that’s great coming from someone that just woke up from a three day coma and the first thing you say is my name.” He smirks, face still red. “Almost as if you love me too.” 

Sasuke flinches slightly at that and turns away from the blonde. His chuckle is dark and hollow and voice bitter as he speaks, “I am someone that no longer deserves love. To be given or received.” Naruto frowns at that and blue eyes narrow. He leans in and speaks in his most serious voice.

“I’ll have you know that I am Uzumaki Naruto and I live to prove people wrong.” 

The ravenette turns back, ready to lash out but comes to a sudden stop at the sudden proximity of Naruto’s face. In a horrible parody of the gen-nin team announcement day, Naruto and Sasuke’s lips lock in an accidental embrace. They both freeze, like that day years past, but unlike that first day this time they lean into the kiss and then pull back gently, both faces sporting blushes in differing intensities. 

“There is no way this will work. I am probably the most hated person in the five nations, especially in Konoha.” Sasuke may be exaggerating, but some days it feels true. “And you are the leader of the alliance, the Hokage and the hero of the people. There is no way the people would accept-” He doesn’t get to finish as Naruto interrupts normal logic with Naruto-logic (meaning irrational hope and belief in all things good).

“I have been chasing after you for years and now I finally have you, safe and in my village, under my protection. There is no way anybody is going to take you away from me again.” Both of their faces are red, Naruto’s being more-so than Sasuke’s. The words cause Sasuke to pause for a moment. He never thought any deeper than Naruto being Naruto and wanting everybody, but if his words now are true… then maybe just maybe…

The silence stretches and Naruto begins to lose his confidence and back track his words, “I-I-I’m not trying to force you into anything you don’t want to do. Even though the- uh, the counselors and the uh people might start to think better of you if we -uh, started dating or something. A-And it might ease tensions in some areas.” His voice trails off as Naruto realizes he is just rambling nonsense at this point.

“I,” Sasuke begins his reply and Naruto waits with cautious hope. “I would be willing to enter a relationship with you.” There is another pause as blue eyes stare deeply into inky black searching for deceit of any kind. “Why” Naruto blurts out. That seems to be a habit today. “I mean, the way you said that, almost sounded like you were accepting a mission.”

Sasuke stares straight back into those bright blue eyes and his usual smirk begins to crawl onto his lips. “Because I love you, you dumbass.” 

A beat of silence.

Then Naruto is yelling all sorts of insults and sputtered nonsense at having his own confession thrown back at him. Sasuke ignores his now-boyfriend’s outburst with years of practice. He slides his pale hand back into a tanned cone and leans back to return to sleep with the rough grumbling of Naruto at his side. This, he thinks after a moment, this could probably work, or at least this is something he is willing to hold onto.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed reading this piece.
> 
> Truth be told I actually don't know much about the Narutoverse, so there might be some incorrect parts. I tried to be as vague as possible.
> 
> You can find out more about me here:  
> https://ao3dracien.tumblr.com/
> 
> Once again this was a prompt from Konori, they also write fanfiction/fiction and create digital art. you can find out more here:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/Konori/pseuds/Konori  
> 


End file.
